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Una Sangre y Un Amor (One Blood, One Love)
Reflective thoughts on the National Compadres Network
Gathering of Elders
By Deen Tyler
A few months back I sat in a meeting at The California
Endowment whose purpose was to build bridges across the various communities of
color. Among those communities represented were the African, Native, and
Latino. This was the preliminary conversation that would ultimately result in
this past weekend’s two-day retreat at which seven representatives across three
generations from the aforementioned communities came together to begin the
process of forming a collective agenda and action plan geared towards building
unity amongst people of color and acquiring power as a collective. With
the vision of Baba Arnold Perkins and Maestro Jerry Tello and the support of The
California Endowment, specifically Sandra Davis, Sandra Witt, and Lauren
Valverde, what started as an ambitious yet commonly sensible idea came to
fruition.
We sat in a circle that enclosed an altar containing items
from the various cultures and experiences represented in the room. There was a
wooden talking stick, actually a branch that survived a severe fire, being
passed around as we each introduced ourselves and described what we felt about
the convening as sage smoke sat motionless in mid-air.
After lunch, each community gave a presentation on its
history and culture taking feedback and questions at the end from the
others. Though time and flow limited the equity in this process, it did
ignite inclusive dialogue around often avoided truths as each community discussed
the misconceptions, mis-education, misunderstandings that it held against the
other communities. This dynamic was explored through the lens of the
incarcerated, which provided a different context. The bonds and
disconnections between the various peoples of color, accessorized with
historical social and domestic misinformation and trauma were a recurring theme
throughout the weekend. The day ended with a powerful drumming circle, a
concert of the three sounds and rhythms of the respective communities.
On the second day, there was an obvious air of anxious energy
around the next steps filling the room. The sense was that there was more
building required internally before this circle could move towards a solid
collective action step. There were several partnership and
collaborative opportunities that came up including; 1) bridge building between
Building Healthy Community sites i.e. Sacramento & Stockton, Oakland &
Richmond, etc. 2) one similar retreat per six months with the next one being
held in Oakland 3) formation of an advisory committee within the circle and 4)
collaborative efforts on the upcoming Boys and Men of Color Summer Camp.
As you can imagine, if I could only scratch the surface of
the energy, power, and magnitude of the moment, I would consider myself an
extraordinary communicator. I think that successfully creating an
environment where men from three different generations and cultural communities
who know little to nothing about each other can become almost immediately comfortable
enough within themselves and with each other to be completely vulnerable and
transparent with their own pain, trauma, faults, and truths represents an
immeasurable revolutionary milestone. The moment defied all that the world,
including those in attendance was/is being taught to believe about masculinity
and willingness to expose injury as it relates to men of color.
In all honesty, there were obviously kinks in this process
that can and will be ironed out in the future, as most of the kinks were logistical;
time and agenda management to be specific. With as much experience, data,
technology, and training that medical professionals have with relation to
delivering babies, in the moment of labor there are still things that
happen which completely conflict with the plan and process. In these moments,
it becomes the responsibility of the doctor to adjust accordingly in a manner
that is patient, considerate, compassionate, and respectfully delicate with the
nature of the process. This retreat delivered a new life into the world. It may
very well be a funny looking baby (whom we cannot determine who it resembles)
at birth but with the nurturing and cultivation from this community at large,
it can certainly grow and develop into the internally and externally beautiful
being that many funny looking babies become.
This retreat represented a shift in
thinking, functionality, and understanding across four communities and three
generations and the potential of a cultural revolution. The sense was that we
witnessed something that was difficult to wrap one’s mind and words around but
quite naturally wrap one’s spirit around. I was honored and blessed to be
present with “All My Relations”. "Ashe."
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